Yu Xiaogang gasped.
"It... it can't be..."
His sudden reaction immediately caught the attention of both Yu Yuanzhen and the Grand Elder.
The two exchanged glances, realizing that Yu Xiaogang had just thought of something important.
"Xiaogang!"
Yu Yuanzhen asked impatiently,
"What did you figure out?"
Ever since his son had begun cultivating, Yu Yuanzhen had often found himself asking questions like this.
As the head of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he considered himself extremely knowledgeable about Martial Souls.
Yet ever since Yu Xiaogang awakened Little Dragon, his understanding of the Martial Soul system had been challenged again and again.
If he couldn't understand his own son's Martial Soul, how could he explain similar situations in the future?
Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath.
"Give me a moment."
"I need to organize my thoughts first."
Instead of answering immediately, he fell into deep contemplation.
A shocking realization had just occurred to him.
His Martial Soul Possession seemed to fit perfectly into another well-known system of the Douluo Continent.
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
A Martial Soul Fusion Skill was one of the rarest and most powerful abilities a Spirit Master could possess.
Countless Spirit Masters dreamed of obtaining one.
Unlike ordinary abilities, a Martial Soul Fusion Skill required two or more Spirit Masters to activate together through perfect resonance between their Martial Souls.
Once activated, the resulting power far exceeded the combined strength of the individuals involved.
It wasn't merely one plus one equals two.
It was one plus one becoming far greater than two.
Naturally, such an ability came with extremely strict requirements.
The participating Spirit Masters needed exceptional Martial Soul compatibility, synchronized spirit power, perfectly harmonized minds, and complete mutual trust.
Their Martial Souls also had to complement one another in terms of attributes, abilities, and overall nature.
Simply put, obtaining a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was even rarer than acquiring a Spirit Bone.
At present, only a handful of Martial Soul Fusion Skills were known across the Douluo Continent.
The most famous belonged to the Dai and Zhu families of the Star Luo Empire.
Their descendants could combine their Martial Souls to form the legendary Hell White Tiger, a power that served as one of the greatest foundations of the Star Luo royal family.
As long as both families continued producing Spirit Masters capable of using the Hell White Tiger, their alliance would remain unbreakable.
Another famous pair was Yue Guan and Gui Mei, two powerful Spirit Douluo who also possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Finally, there was the renowned husband-and-wife duo Meng Shu and Chao Tianxiang.
Because of both their strength and their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, they were known throughout the continent as the Unrivaled Dragon and Serpent.
Those three examples represented nearly every publicly known Martial Soul Fusion Skill in existence.
That alone demonstrated just how incredibly rare such abilities were.
Yet they deserved their reputation.
Anyone capable of performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill became a companion who could entrust their life completely to the other.
Absolute trust wasn't simply recommended.
It was an essential requirement.
No Spirit Master would ever betray someone with whom they shared a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Comparing these requirements to his own Martial Soul Possession, Yu Xiaogang suddenly realized something astonishing.
There was almost no difference.
A Martial Soul Fusion Skill required two separate individuals.
He and Little Dragon were indeed two independent entities.
It required complete trust.
Who could trust him more than Little Dragon?
Who could possibly share a soul with him more perfectly than his own Martial Soul?
Little Dragon wasn't merely his companion.
It was literally a part of himself.
No one in the world could have greater mutual trust or deeper spiritual compatibility than they did.
Those conditions were naturally fulfilled.
The final requirement was complementing one another's strengths.
Although this point seemed less obvious at first, the more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the more logical it became.
Without Little Dragon, he possessed no Martial Soul, no elemental attributes, and no special combat abilities.
Without Yu Xiaogang, Little Dragon lacked a physical vessel, a supply of spirit power, and an independent consciousness.
Each perfectly compensated for what the other lacked.
How could that not be considered perfect compatibility?
Before Little Dragon's second awakening, they could only fight side by side like two separate Spirit Masters.
After the second awakening granted Little Dragon the ability to perform Martial Soul Possession, they could finally merge into a single existence.
Wasn't that, in essence, the same as performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?
"If that's really the case..."
Yu Xiaogang muttered softly,
"Then everything finally makes sense."
The overwhelming increase in strength during Martial Soul Possession perfectly matched the defining characteristic of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
One plus one becoming far greater than two.
That also explained why his spirit power increased more dramatically than his physical strength.
His thoughts became clearer and clearer.
At that moment, he looked toward Little Dragon, who was quietly resting beside him.
"Little Dragon."
"Let's test it again."
Without the slightest hesitation, Little Dragon nodded.
Nearby, Yu Yuanzhen and the Grand Elder exchanged another glance.
Although neither of them understood what Yu Xiaogang had realized, they wisely chose not to interrupt.
The truth would reveal itself soon enough.
A brilliant flash of light erupted.
Little Dragon instantly returned to its enormous dragon form.
Looking at the massive dragon before him, Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath.
He slowly walked forward and placed his hand upon Little Dragon's body.
In the very next instant, his own body dissolved into countless streams of light.
Just as Little Dragon had merged into him before...
This time, Yu Xiaogang merged into Little Dragon.
The gigantic dragon immediately began radiating dazzling light.
The entire body shone brilliantly.
When the light finally faded, Yu Xiaogang slowly opened his eyes.
His field of vision had risen dramatically.
Looking down, he immediately saw his father and the Grand Elder standing far below.
He instinctively raised one arm.
A massive dragon claw entered his line of sight.
As he sensed the body he now controlled, an overwhelming surge of power flooded through every part of him.
The feeling was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
His physical strength had reached an unimaginable level.
At that moment, Yu Xiaogang felt that he could challenge a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast in the Star Dou Forest using nothing but pure physical combat.
"So that's it..."
"It really works exactly as I thought."
Within the enormous dragon's body, Yu Xiaogang's eyes shone with realization.
At last...
He had completely understood the true nature of his Martial Soul Possession.
It wasn't merely Martial Soul Possession at all.
It was, in essence, a unique form of Martial Soul Fusion Skill between himself and Little Dragon.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)